A hot air balloon made a lucky emergency landing in the middle of a California neighborhood, managing to avoid surrounding structures by a matter of feet.

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The Murrieta Police Department said "poor weather and windy conditions" forced the balloon pilot to make an emergency landing Thursday morning in The Colony, a residential community in Murrieta.

A photo shared by the department shows the balloon landed mere feet away from a house.

The pilot said he had some help from witnesses on the ground.

"I threw a rope down to them, and they pulled me in," pilot Brian Lynch told KABC-TV. "It was just kind of lucky to have someone on the ground able to help."

Police said there were no injuries or property damage from the landing.